Spectroscopic and imaging observations of small-scale reconnection events

Li, Dong, Leping Li, and Zongjun Ning, Spectroscopic and imaging observations of small-scale reconnection events, MNRAS, 479, 2382-2388 (2018) (ADS)

The cartoon

(click on the image for a larger version)

Action at the footpoint of an EUV brightening, construed as a coronal magnetic loop, explained as the consequence of magnetic reconnection in the lower atmosphere. The geometry is that of the Xu illustration of connectivity. The basic idea of footpoint energy release is well represented in other Archive cartoons, some even pushing the dream of reconnection to regions below the photosphere itself. The clear prediction is as shown here in this diagram, namely that a bipolar photospheric field structure must be available at the photospheric level, with the implication that if this is not always seen, it must be because of limited angular resolution in the magnetograms.

      The blue and red arrows represent the telltale bidirectional jet action, as detected here by the IRIS spacecraft. This cartoon, like so many, really misses the point about the three-dimensionality of the transition "layer" - better, maybe, "cavern", thinking about stalactites and stalagmites.

Date: 2020 December 04